Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
Dak Prescott and fans of the Dallas Cowboys aren’t the only ones reveling in the news of the quarterback’s mega-millions new contract these days.
You can bet that Josh Allen, Kyler Murray and a host of other young quarterbacks, even some preparing to get drafted next month, found reason to cheer Prescott’s four-year, $160 million ($126 million guaranteed) deal and what it could eventually portend for them.
To be sure these are heady days to be a franchise quarterback in the NFL, where every team desperately wants one and few are fortunate enough to have them. What has always been the game’s glamour position now comes with LeBron James-like money and an empowerment heretofore only enjoyed and exercised by James and top-level NBA stars.
In this, Prescott’s deal is but the latest reminder over recent months of the enhanced entitlement for those who play the position and do it exceedingly well. It follows on the heels of Deshaun Watson giving a get-me-outta-here ultimatum to Houston owner Cal McNair to trade him, Matthew Stafford asking out of Detroit, Russell Wilson registering his displeasure with the Seahawks and Aaron Rodgers sending signals to the Packers.
Never before have
quarterbacks felt so empowered or been so emboldened in employing it.
It wasn’t too long ago that once quarterbacks were drafted by a team they tended to stay there for the duration of their careers or, maybe, wander off in their twilight days a la Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath.
But, now, the money is huge and so is the leverage, meaning that ties to an organization can have a declining shelf life.
It is significant that the 27-year-old Prescott had both the will and the wherewithal to stand up to Jerry Jones, the NFL’s most visible owner. He had the courage to bet on himself in declining previous Cowboys offers that still would have made him beyond wealthy.
Curiously, even the
compound right ankle fracture that Prescott suffered in Week 5 worked to his advantage. Instead of lowering his value, the Cowboys’ inability to do much without him only raised his stock. By the time Jones, the oil billionaire, cried “uncle,” Prescott had secured not only the richest signing bonus ($66 million) but significant no-trade and no-tag clauses as well.
This has allowed Prescott to go from vastly underpaid ($2.7 million, four-year rookie deal) as a fourth-round draft pick out of Mississippi State to the second-highest-paid player behind Patrick Mahomes (10 years, $450 million). And if he stays healthy he could get another bite of the golden apple when he’s 31.
All of which underlines the financial wisdom of Murray walking away from a $4.66 million deal to play center field for the Oakland A’s out of college to take a shot at being an NFL quarterback.
Allen’s agreement and Bills option expire for 2023, while Murray’s deal and option ends in 2024, meaning if they continue to progress they will own considerable leverage for their next contracts.
That’s no small consideration when the NFL’s new TV rights contracts begin to kick in and the loot rises to even more astronomical levels in the next few years.
Life for franchise quarterbacks was already sweet and Prescott just made it sweeter.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvefrtiser.com or 529-4820.
72